MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

2/4 Cubs TV sked

Get your remote ready. The Cubs released their 2010 TV schedule Thursday. The season opener April 5 will be carried on WCIU from Atlanta. WGN will handle at least 58 games, starting with the home opener April 12 against Milwaukee. There could be more on WGN, depending on whether ESPN or FOX pick up a game.

The Cubs will be on ESPN back-to-back Sunday night broadcasts on July 11 from Los Angeles, which is the last game before the All-Star break, and July 18 at home against Philadelphia.

The Cubs are scheduled to air on FOX eight times in 2010, including May 22 at Texas; May 29 vs. St. Louis; June 12 vs. White Sox; June 26 at White Sox; July 10 at Los Angeles; Aug. 14 at St. Louis; Aug. 21 vs. Atlanta; and Sept. 4 vs. the New York Mets.

Stay tuned.

– Carrie Muskat

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8 Comments

I am so upset about the fact that WCIU will be broadcasting the Season Opener. The Season Opener, you know, the one we count down to… the one where we get the chills as we watch the teams line up down the baselines as the military flybys take place… the first pitch of the season.. the first crack of the bat…

I do not live in the Chicago area, so I do not get WCIU…my equivalent of WCIU is out of The Quad Cities. MLB.TV is blacked out because I am still within the blackout area. Opening Day has always been like a holiday at our house, where we grill out, we take the day off work/school and celebrate the new Next Year….. There are many fans in my position, as well, who don’t get WCIU, but still live in the blackout area… so whoever made this decision just socked a good number of loyal fans right in the gut.

I feel bad for luvmycubz, I do the same thing every year.
I remember one year they opened in Japan and I was up at 2 or 3 am preparing a huge breakfast for some friends that also stayed home from work. Wasn’t quite like the usual BBQ but still got the job done considering the time of the game. It’s always been about contracts, money and profit but it does seem as times progress as long as the revenue keeps pouring in from ANY source, whether TV, ticket sales, conventions or merchandising us poor “schucks” who just want to watch our Cubs whenever possible without spending an entire paycheck…we get lost in the shuffle. Sure, there may be quite a few games on TV to safisfy most of us Cubs fans but the season opener should always remain on a more available broadcast. Give us that, at least?

I can’t believe this. How do you not put the season opener on a channel where a team’s fanbase, that stretches across the nation, can get a chance to view it? At least even if it was on CSN, somehow a bit more people would at least be able to work something out with their cable providers. Oh wait, they’re pushing those MLB.TV packages again…. oh wait, even if you get one of those that doesn’t guarantee the game will not be blacked out for you like it was for me last year (I never cancelled something so fast after purchasing it.). So I guess the real question is: with a franchise this big, how do you make it so you don’t screw over your national fanbase? It just seems…bushleague.

I’m hearing the Cubs’ season opener will be included in ESPN’s Opening Day package, so if you get ESPN, you’ll be able to watch the Cubs vs. Braves and celebrate the start of the season. It’s a rumor — but got it from good sources.

I hope it is on ESPN because I don’t get WCIU either! I love pat and ron but would really like to watch the first game. I Wish WCIU didn’t broadcast any of the games nobody in my area gets WCIU and I live in northern Illinois about a two hour drive from wrigley!! Carrie how many games are on WCIU this year? Do the cubs have a long-term contract with them, for so many games a year? I hope not, I get WGN, ESPN, CSN CHICAGO. TIME FOR A CHANGE MR. RICKETTS NO MORE WCIU Please!!!! The good news is you can always listen to pat and ron. I can’t wait for opening day GO CUBBIES!!!!!

Speaking of MLB TV blackouts, I’m in Las Vegas. We’re blacked out for the Diamondbacks, Angels, Padres, Dodgers, Athletics AND Giants. For both home and away games. Last year, I couldn’t watch at least 20% of the Cub games, even if they played a West Coast Team in Chicago. Thats’ why I’m not buying the package this year. MLB… UPDATE YOUR BLACKOUT POLICY!!!

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